


Under the Same Vast Sky

by QueenofVolleyballHell (TawnyOwlChan)



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, College, Fluff, IwaOi Week, IwaOi Week 2017, Iwaizumi feels quilty, Kinda, M/M, Oikawa is an emotional wreck, matsuhana to the rescue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-01
Updated: 2017-05-01
Packaged: 2018-10-26 12:17:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10786596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TawnyOwlChan/pseuds/QueenofVolleyballHell
Summary: IwaOi Week 2017Day 1: Immortality / CollegeIn which Oikawa and Iwaizumi go to separate colleges but everything isn't that simple...





	Under the Same Vast Sky

Oikawa couldn’t believe what he was hearing. No, he refused to accept what Iwaizumi was trying to tell him because there was just no way this would be happening.

“Iwa-chan… This is a joke, right?” Oikawa asked, voice slightly smaller than he would have liked while looking at Iwaizumi who was standing in front of him, wearing a sad and pained expression. He didn’t open his mouth to answer to Oikawa, which made the latter to clench his fists.

“This has to be a joke. There’s just no way you could say that you’re leaving in two days to…” Oikawa couldn’t finish his sentence because a lump was starting to form in his throat and he placed his hands on Iwaizumi’s shoulders, squeezing them way more strongly than necessarily, and started to shake him.

“Tell me you’re joking, Iwa-chan! Tell me that everything you just said was just a joke! Please, tell me that this isn’t true! I don’t-”

Warm and strong hands embraced him and his face was gently pressed against the shorter ones shoulder, making Oikawa stop speaking, his eyes already brimming with tears. Familiar hand was stroking his hair while the other hand remained on his lower back, only to squeeze the other one closer to his body.

“I’m really sorry, Oikawa.”

Hearing those words made everything inside the brown haired boy break down and tears started to fall down his face until he was fully crying. Oikawa’s hands were holding onto Iwaizumi’s jacket while the other was holding him close. The once warm spring breeze was starting to feel cold for Oikawa, making him shiver. His long time best friend, classmate and teammate was going to leave. The one who had supported, lectured, listened and shared the most sad, happy, painful and joyful memories with him would soon be out of his reach.

Iwaizumi was going to attend to a college in America.

  
  


Oikawa didn’t come to see Iwaizumi off in the airport. Iwaizumi knew this would happen but it still made him sad. Well, he didn’t expect nothing less since everything was basically his fault. He should have listened to his parents and teammates when they told him to tell Oikawa everything about moving to America and attending to a college there sooner rather than later. 

Speaking of teammates, Iwaizumi turned his gaze from the huge window to his teammates -or former teammates- who were seeing him off. Kindaichi was already bawling his eyes out while Kunimi was trying make him stop but even his expressionless face was grumbling down a little. Kyōtani wore his usual expression but he was fidgeting around quite a lot. Watari had small tears running down his face, though he was trying to wipe them away with his sweaters sleeve. Yahaba was trying to act composed but Iwaizumi thought that it was due to the fact that he was now the team’s captain and he was trying to hold everything inside for everyone’s sake. Matsukawa and Hanamaki were the only ones who were acting mostly like themselves and Iwaizumi couldn’t even put it into words how grateful he was to have someone like Matsukawa and Hanamaki as his friends.

“So, this is it then. Our Iwaizumi has finally become an adult and is now spreading his wings,” Hanamaki said dramatically while wiping an imaginary tear away from his eyes, Matsukawa beside him nodding in agreement.

“Indeed. They grow up so fast… I remember like it was just yesterday when Iwaizumi was this tall,” Matsukawa placed his hand in front of him, holding it in a place just couple of centimeters/inches lower than how tall Iwaizumi is now, “and he was putting even our senpai’s in order.”

A small laugh escaped Iwaizumi’s lips and the others smiled. Even the bawling Kindaichi was able to form a small smile to his lips while sniffling and reaching out to take a tissue from Kunimi.

“I did no such a thing and we all know that. Though, I might have given some of the former second and third years a heart attack once or twice in my first year,” Iwaizumi admitted sheepishly which earned a small laugh out of everyone.

The laughter died soon enough and the first one to throw his arms around Iwaizumi was Hanamaki which came to a surprise to Iwaizumi but he returned the hug nevertheless.

“You know, there’s still something that really pisses me off,” Hanamaki said quietly which made Iwaizumi knit his brows together.

“What might that be?” Iwaizumi asked and Hanamaki broke away from the hug a little to be able to look at Iwaizumi in the eyes with a serious expression.

“I was never able to kick your ass in arm wrestling,” Hanamaki answered, pouting.

Iwaizumi chuckled a little and hugged his friend close.

“You were always 100 years too early to beat me anyways,” Iwaizumi said smirking, which made Hanamaki huff. “So when I come back, you better show me what you got.”

With those words they broke away from the hug, and giving Iwaizumi a fist pump, Hanamaki retreated and Matsukawa stepped in front of Iwaizumi.

“Just so you know that you never bought me that cheese-filled hamburger steak when I helped you to help your neighbours cat down from that high as fuck tree,” Matsukawa said while giving Iwaizumi a bone crushing hug which made his breath hitch. “But I think I can forgive you if you come back with a mouth-watering recipe for the world’s most delicious American cheese-filled hamburger steak.”

“I’ll try my best,” Iwaizumi answered when he was released from the hug. Matsukawa nodded and they also gave each other a fist pump. Matsukawa stepped aside and before Iwaizumi knew it, he was being sandwiched between Watari and Kindaichi. Both of them were weeping, though at least Watari looked more decent than Kindaichi who was bawling his eyes out and somehow some strands of hair had fallen down from his neat turnip hairstyle.

“Hey now you two, don’t cry or you’re going to make me cry,” Iwaizumi said and he gently wiped away the tears from Watari’s and Kindaichi’s eyes, using a tissue which he fished out of his jacket’s pocket.

Both of the teenagers tried to gather themselves because no one wanted to see Iwaizumi cry but they were still sniffling when Iwaizumi pulled them to a warm hug.

“Both of you, do your best from now on out. Watari, support Yahaba to the best of your ability and watch that he and Kyōtani won’t kill each other.” 

There was a low groan coming from Kyōtani’s direction and when Iwaizumi looked at him, the blond’s lips while quivering just a tiny bit, and now Yahaba’s composure was also slipping away. Watari was wiping his eyes before meeting Iwaizumi’s gaze.

“I’ll do my best to support Yahaba as a captain and take care of other members as well as the new members!” Watari announced proudly and Iwaizumi patted him on the head while giving an approving nod and a small smile before turning to look at Kindaichi.

“You too, Kindaichi. Take good care of everyone and guide the new first years with the best of your ability.” 

Kindaichi sniffled and nodded his head with determination showing in his eyes.

“I’ll-I’ll also do my-my best, Iwaizumi-san!” Kindaichi said while fighting back the tears. Iwaizumi smiled at him and tried to fix the younger one’s hair before giving up and just messing it up even more by ruffling it with his hand. 

After Watari and Kindaichi were back to their original places, Iwaizumi turned to Kyōtani and motioned him to move closer. A bit of hesitation in his steps Kyōtani walked over to Iwaizumi until they were almost face to face and looking at each other in the eyes. There wasn’t much to say but after a while Iwaizumi give him a one-sided hug.

“I’ll be counting on you, Kyōtani, Seijoh’s new ace.”

Iwaizumi patted Kyōtani’s shoulder while smiling at him. After his words, confidence and determination were showing in Kyōtani’s eyes, making him straighten up his back. With a nod and a rare small smile on his lips, he gave Iwaizumi a quick hug before walking to his previous place beside Watari, tiny but noticeable blush on his cheeks. Iwaizumi swore he had never been as proud of Kyōtani as he’s now. 

Kunimi came up next and before he could say anything, Iwaizumi had already pulled him in an embrace. 

“You take good care of the team and support them as well, Kunimi. Always be yourself and make sure the team pulls through everything, okay?” Iwaizumi said and he could feel slight tremble of Kunimi’s shoulders against him.

“Yes, I will, Iwaizumi-san,” Kunimi answered quietly. Smiling, Iwaizumi ruffled his hair and Kunimi gave him his own small smile before turning back and returning to his place beside Kindaichi, giving the other boy yet another new tissue.

Turning his green eyes to look at Yahaba, Iwaizumi could tell that the younger one was barely keeping his emotions in check. With a soft and encouraging smile on his lips, Iwaizumi walked up to Yahaba and gave him a warm, tight hug.

“Just because you’re now the official captain of the volleyball club doesn’t mean you can’t show your real emotions to us. Right now you aren’t Seijoh’s volleyball teams captain but Yahaba Shigeru. This isn’t a game situation or we’re not on the court where hundreds of people would see us. You are allowed to show your emotions, Yahaba. Let it all out and don’t hold back.”

Right after the words had left Iwaizumi’s mouth, Yahaba was clinging onto him, shoulders shaking and letting out all of his emotions while crying to Iwaizumi’s shoulder. Holding Yahaba close to him, Iwaizumi motioned to the others to come closer and soon all of them were piled up into a huge group hug. 

“We’re going to miss you, Iwaizumi-san,” Watari said quietly and Iwaizumi smiled sadly, turning his gaze to look at Watari on his right side.

“I’m going to miss all of you too,” Iwaizumi said and after a long, warm embrace of many hands, the others retreated a little away from Iwaizumi, giving him some space. 

Quietly, he picked up his sport bag and threw it over his right shoulder, simultaneously taking a hold of his suitcase with his left hand.

“I guess this is it then,” he said, trying to smile but failing miserably. “Please, take care of yourselves and… Look after Oikawa for me. He might not show it but I know he’s hurt. Even if he turns you down or says to give him space, don’t let him be alone. He’s the kind of person who needs someone to lean on, even when he doesn’t notice it himself. Though, it might be impossible for you to be with him that much since he’s going to college in Tokyo while you stay in Miyagi…”

There’s a brief glance between Matsukawa and Hanamaki before both of them give a reassuring smile to Iwaizumi.

“You don’t have to worry about that. Hanamaki and I are moving to Tokyo as well. After knowing Oikawa for three years we know how to deal with him,” Matsukawa explained and Iwaizumi let out a relieved sigh.

“What would I do without you two? Or wait, don’t answer that,” the green eyed boy said which earned a small chuckle from Matsukawa and Hanamaki.

“You would have never been able to hear our precious baby memes, Iwaizumi,” Hanamaki answered, placing his hand on his stomach and stroking it with his thumb. Matsukawa also places his hand on Hanamaki’s stomach, rubbing his own thumb over the fabric.

“You really are a good uncle for them, Iwaizumi,” Matsukawa said, wiping dramatically away non-existent tears, making Iwaizumi roll his eyes.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever suits your boat,” he said, completely done with Matsukawa and Hanamaki’s antics.

Right then an announcement was heard, informing Iwaizumi that it was his time for leave. With all the strength he could muster, he gave everyone one of his best smiles.

“See you soon, everyone. Keep your spirits up, okay?”

With a wave of his hand Iwaizumi turned around and started walking away from the others. With each step he took it was harder and harder for him to keep his own emotions in check. One thing Iwaizumi knew for sure. Each step led him away from his friends, away from Oikawa. Those thoughts in his mind he made his way down to the big hall and to the gate of his flight. Not even once he turned to look back because he knew that if he had done that, he wouldn’t have been able to leave, and once safe inside the airplane, he finally let himself cry.

Looking out at the plane’s small window with tear filled eyes, he could only saw blurry white clouds. Silently, Iwaizumi placed his forehead against the cool window, closing his green colored eyes and letting the last tears fall down his cheeks.

_ ‘I’m truly sorry...and...I love you.” _

 

About a month and a half later, at the beginning of June, Oikawa knew he should’ve been concentrating on studying and volleyball, but it was easier said than done. To make the matters worse, today was June 9th, which meant that tomorrow was going to be Iwaizumi’s birthday. Mixed emotions were swirling inside Oikawa’s head and he didn’t know what to exactly make out of them. He was still mad at Iwaizumi for not saying sooner that he was leaving to America. Yet, while Oikawa did feel mad, inside of him the pile of other emotions were trying to break free and on that particular day, the barrier which was supposed to be protecting those emotions, was finally going to be torn down.

 

“Say, Oikawa, who’s ‘Iwa-chan’?”

Oikawa felt how his movements halted for a moment until he turned to face the person who had asked the question. The first thing that caught his attention was the ridiculous bed-head and the sharp, hazel colored eyes. Beside the described person stood another figure with muscular frame and owl-like hair. In the corner of his his left eye Oikawa could see Matsukawa and Hanamaki, who had come to see the volleyball practise, share a look with each other.

With a dismissive flick of his hand Oikawa put a smile on his lips and turned back to his earlier position, preparing to serve.

“No one important, so you don’t have to bother your little head, Tetsu-chan~”

Spinning the ball first in his hands, Oikawa then threw it into the air, took a couple of steps forward, jumped and hit the ball with all of his strength, sending it to the other side of the court with a loud ‘thud’ echoing inside the gym. The ball landed on the floor, though, way out of bounds. 

Dissatisfied look on his face Oikawa turned around and was about to take another ball out of the cart when Kuroo stepped in front of him.

Truth to be told, Oikawa was happy when he was scouted to the Japan men’s national volleyball team, but what he didn’t expect was the existence of Kuroo Tetsurō and his partner in crime, Bokuto Kōtarō. If that wasn’t enough, those two were also part of his college’s volleyball team. Honestly, right now, the only thing Oikawa would have enjoyed more than anything, would be punching that knowing look away from the taller ones face. 

“So, if this ‘no one important’ Iwa-chan really were just a no one to you, shouldn’t you have been able to make the serve to be inside the bounds?”

“Even I make mistakes sometimes, Tetsu-chan. Now, move out of my way so I can continue my serving practise.”

Instead of moving away, Kuroo took a step forward which made Oikawa took a step back and now the entire gym was focusing on those two.

“If ‘no one important’ Iwa-chan really were just a no one to you, why are you getting angry?”

“I’m not getting angry!”

“Then why are you yelling?”

“I’m not yelling! Now, move the fuck away that I can continue practicing!”

Before Oikawa could shove Kuroo away, hands were placed on his shoulders and then his body was turned around so that he could come face to face with worried Matsukawa.

“Oikawa, please calm down-”

“I am calm! Let go of my shoulders, Mattsun.”

“No, I won’t. You are far from calm, Oikawa. Maybe you should take a break and sort your thoughts and not think about Iwaizu-”

Before Matsukawa could finish his sentence, a cold and humourless laugh escaped between Oikawa’s lips, making everyone in the gym freeze while a shudder ran down most of their spines. Even Matsukawa and Hanamaki were totally shocked about this sudden change of Oikawa’s behaviour, especially the fake smile on their former captain’s face which screamed of pain, suffering, loneliness and some other emotions that even words could not describe.

“Not to think about him? What do you think I was trying to do this whole time after he left? Right, I was trying not to think about him! To forget him! To bury down all the memories we have had since I met him when we were just small kids! I’ve been trying to pretend that he didn’t even exist!”

“Oikawa-”

“Every day, every single fucking day I’ve been trying to occupy my mind with something else that would not make me remember him! I’ve been trying to avoid doing or thinking about things that would remind me of him! Still, after a month and a half, I’m still thinking, remembering and seeing and doing things that remind me of him! Sometimes I even start speaking like he would be here, listening to me, but when I stop and turn around to question him about not answering to me, it’s like a bucket of cold water being thrown on me!”

“Oikawa!”

“Everything would’ve been okay if Iwaizumi wouldn’t have left but he decided to be a self-centered asshole and leave on short notice, informing me  _ two days before he was going to leave _ ! Just who does he think he is? He’s a fucking lying bastard, self-centered human being, the most horrible best friend ever and I hate him so much!”

“Oikawa Tōru!”

Somehow coming back to his senses, Oikawa’s eyes met the face of a very angry Matsukawa. If Oikawa would have been on his right mind, he would have actually been scared of Matsukawa because when angry, the tall middle blocker has always been the scariest one. Now, with the situation entirely different, without himself noticing it or anyone trying to stop him, Oikawa pushed Matsukawa out of his way, storming out of the gym. With the barrier broken, all the emotions started flowing out like a waterfall without stopping, or rather, without being able to be stopped anymore.

 

Everyone watched silently when Oikawa dashed out of the gym and the once angry Matsukawa was back to his normal self, looking after Oikawa worriedly, Hanamaki right by his side, holding his hand and squeezing it to make Matsukawa calm down. The entire gym was deathly silent for a long while until a painful yelp was being heard loud and clear.

“And that’s why I told you not to bring that up, you Bakaneko!”

Kuroo was nursing his left side with his hand while another former student from Nekoma High School, Yaku Morisuke, was giving him a death glare.

“You have no delicacy. Not. At. All,” Yaku kept ranting, preparing to hit his friend on his right shin.

“It’s fine,” Hanamaki said and everyone turned to look at him. “Oikawa doesn’t want other people to know when he’s hurting and he has a habit of piling everything inside but not knowing how to let them go. Matsukawa and I predicted something like this might happen, so it’s not Kuroo’s fault. This is just how Oikawa is.”

“Then, is it okay to ask what led to this? Iwaizumi-kun left, right? But I don’t think it’s that simple,” Yaku asked, calming down and patting Kuroo on his shoulder in a way of apologizing.

There was a brief pause until Matsukawa spoke, leaving the gym once again deadly silent.

“Iwaizumi moved away to America.”

 

Outside, the weather was warm and the sun was shining in the cloudless sky. At least there was a  cool summer wind, making the weather a bit more bearable. The cool breeze ruffled the approaching figure’s short, messy black hair, while he was looking around, checking the smartphone in his hand every now and then.

“At least I’m in the right place… But looking for the right gymnasium is going to be quite troublesome. Better explanations would have been appreciated,” the boy spoke, sighing. Putting his phone away, he started walking towards far left which might have been the right direction from the looks of it. Or then it’s just his intuition since he can almost hear the famous ‘hey, hey, hey!’ coming from that direction.

The boy wasn’t able to walk for long before he spotted someone sitting on a bench, under the now flowerless cherry blossom tree. The person sitting in a bench was hunched over but there were no mistaking it from those perfectly styled, chocolate-brown colored locks.

The black-haired boy approached the person sitting on the bench and then halted his steps right in front of the other one. There was a shift of movement and the person on the bench lifted his head up. The newcomer took that as a clue to start speaking, bowing slightly while introducing himself.

“I’m sorry for bothering you, but you’re Oikawa Tōru, right? I’m Akaashi Keiji, captain of Fukurōdani Academy’s boys volleyball club. I’m looking for Bokuto Kōtarō and since I remember him telling me that you are part of his college’s volleyball club, I thought if you could show me the way to the right gymnasium? Bokuto-san has been pestering me to come to see his college for over a month now and while I’m here I was thinking of giving some advice to the team how to pull him up from his slumps. So I…”

Akaashi’s voice drifted of when he noticed the shaking of Oikawa’s shoulders and after that there were tears in the brown haired boys eyes, soon followed by sniffles and tears streaming down his face like waterfalls, finally leading to full-out crying.

Akaashi did the only thing possible in this kind of situation, putting his schoolbag down to the ground, sitting beside Oikawa and gently embracing the crying setter. The response was immediate and Oikawa threw his arms around Akaashi’s waist, clinging onto him while crying his heart out. Akaashi started stroking the other’s chocolate-brown hair gently, while talking in a soft, soothing voice. 

“It’s okay, cry as much as you want. Let it all out, there’s no need for you to hold back. Crying helps, even though it makes you exhausted afterwards. Not crying doesn’t mean that you’re strong. Being able to cry is a true sign of a strong people.”   

Holding Oikawa in his arms while the other one cried, Akaashi thought back to the conversations he had some time ago with Bokuto-san and Kuroo-san, giving the younger setter a pretty good idea what might’ve been the cause of Oikawa’s breakdown. Not that Akaashi himself understood the situation clearly but supporting the crying, former Seijoh’s setter, was his top priority right now.

Maybe ten minutes later, it could’ve been more or less for them, but then Oikawa started calming down. Only some sniffles and hiccups were being heard here and there but otherwise the brown haired boy was calming down, Akaashi still stroking the other ones hair. It took a bit more time before Oikawa started speaking in a hoarse, quiet voice.

“Why are everyone else happy but me? Mattsun and Makki have each other and four of my kōhai’s are together. I bet Tobio-chan is going to get together with Chibi-chan at some point. Ushiwaka bastard might as well have someone and even thinking about it pisses me off. In this team the bedhead Tetsu-chan has Kenma-chan, Mori-chan has that long russian Lion-chan and now Owlie-chan has Akaashi-chan. Everyone has someone but I don’t have anyone. Maybe I’m cursed to live my life alone, without anyone waiting for me to come home from work, kissing me goodnight or cuddling with me.”

Akaashi listened Oikawa talk before he decided to speak up himself.

“You’re not cursed to live your life alone, Oikawa-san. I’m sure someone wants you by their side,” Akaashi said reassuringly. “Let me ask you, is there someone you want by your side, Oikawa-san? To be with you forever?”

Silence fell between the two of them but Akaashi wasn’t going to rush Oikawa to answer, so he continued stroking his hair while keeping the older one close.

Minute or so later Oikawa started talking again, this time with a bit shaky and shattered voice.

“Iwa… Iwa-chan… But he’s not here anymore. He’s-he’s in America… Stu-stupid Iwa-chan moved to-to America without saying anything to me so-sooner. I’m mad at Iwa-chan but… But everything is wrong when Iwa-chan isn’t here. It’s… It’s empty. Without Iwa-chan nothing is fun anymore. I can’t do anything because everything I say or do reminds me of the empty hole left beside me. At the same time I seriously want to punch him, yell at him and be mad at him but the other part of me wants to see him, hear him, be close to him and spend time with him until he gets annoyed which usually ends up Iwa-chan hitting me. I wonder why… Why do I want Iwa-chan to be with me so badly?”

When hearing Oikawa’s true feelings, Akaashi felt his lips turning upwards for a little smile. He removed his other hand around Oikawa, fishing a tissue out of his pocket and he started to clean up Oikawa’s face.

“That’s because you love him.”

After the words had left Akaashi’s mouth, Oikawa’s whole body stiffened and no sound escaped his lips. For a moment Akaashi felt like panicking. What if he had said something that he shouldn’t have? His thoughts were interrupted when he heard light laughter coming from the other boys lips which soon erupted to a beautiful, free and real laughter. When hearing Oikawa’s laugh, even Akaashi couldn’t help a small chuckle from escaping his lips.

Oikawa lifted his head up from Akaashi’s shoulder, where the tears had left wet spots on the fabric of the T-shirt, and he smiled brightly to the younger setter.

“Thank you, Keiji-chan!” Oikawa said and without a warning he hugged the other boy so tight that Akaashi felt like his ribs might start breaking.

“Oikawa-san… I can’t breathe…”

With a yelp Oikawa quickly withdrew himself from Akaashi and now the younger boy felt like he was able to breath again without feeling like a lemon being crushed in a hands of a chef who’s trying to make lemonade with squeezing the juice out of the lemon itself.

“I’m sorry, Keiji-chan! I just wanted to thank you and I might’ve used a bit too much strength…” Oikawa said sheepishly while rubbing the back of his head.

“It’s fine, Oikawa-san. I’m glad for being able to help you,” Akaashi said sincerely, giving Oikawa a small smile of his own, which somehow got Oikawa pouting like a small child.

“That’s not fair, Keiji-chan.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Your smile, it’s illegal. Owl-chan really is a lucky one.”

“...I have no idea what are you talking about, Oikawa-san.”

Oikawa laughed and then he got up, stretching his numb limbs and then offering Akaashi his hand which the latter took hold of, Oikawa pulling him up.

“Then, since you helped me, now I can help you. You were looking the gymnasium where we practise, right?” Oikawa asked and Akaashi nodded, taking a hold of his schoolbag and throwing it over his shoulder. He looked Oikawa up and down before giving the other one couple of more tissues out of his pocket.

“Before going to the gymnasium, you should clean up your face a bit. You look horrible, Oikawa-san,” Akaashi told bluntly which made Oikawa gasp.

“That’s mean, Keiji-chan! Though, I guess you’re right. I can’t go back when my beautiful face doesn’t look that beautiful.”

Akaashi couldn’t do anything else but sigh.

 

After a short trip to bathroom the two setters made their way towards the gymnasium, which happened to be located to the far right, when a commotion could be heard. Oikawa and Akaashi looked at each other, both having questioning looks on their faces before a loud yell made both of them jump.

“IT’S A FREAKING GHOST AND WE’RE NOT EVEN IN HOGWARTS YET!”

Oikawa could recognize those two beautifully harmonized voices anywhere and the culprit’s couldn’t possibly be anyone else than his two meme-loving friends, Mattsun and Makki. 

“What in the world those two idiots are talking about now?” Oikawa mumbled to himself and started walking in a faster pace to the gymnasium, Akaashi following right behind him.

“Okay you two, what in the world have you done this time-”

Stepping inside the gymnasium, Oikawa’s words caught in his his throat and his entire body froze, looking at the person in front of him wide-eyed.

“Ah, it’s Oikawa!”

“Oikawa is back!”

“Hey, hey, hey! Akaashi!”

“Oikawa!”

The gymnasium was bubbling with relieved and happy noises and Oikawa only faintly recognized excited Bokuto, who came crashing onto Akaashi, hugging the younger setter tightly. Oikawa just barely concentrated on what people were saying to him since his attention was entirely elsewhere, on the person in front of him, to be exact. 

“...Iwa…-chan?”

Voice barely a whisper, Oikawa stared at him. Everything about that person in front of reminded him about Iwa-chan. But… it couldn’t be possible. Iwaizumi was in America and not here, or that was what Oikawa wanted to tell himself. Right in front of him stood the one he wanted to punch the most right now but at the same he wanted hug him. Those green orbs looked back at him, full of emotions.

“Just to be sure, should we poke him?”

“That would prove if he’s really flesh and blood, so yeah.”

Everyone watched when Hanamaki and Matsukawa started poking the person in front him, making the said person slowly annoyed.

“Do I need knock some sense into you two so that you will stop poking me?” The person growled, which made Matsukawa and Hanamaki gasp.

“Holy shit, it’s the real thing!” Both of them yelled while jumping backwards, taking a hold of each other, making a thick mark appear on the spiked hair boys forehead.

“Of course I am real, you meme idiots! What else did you expect?” Iwaizumi questioned, tapping his foot to the floor, trying to calm down and not hit those two to the outer space.

Glancing at each other, Matsukawa and Hanamaki turned to look at Iwaizumi with thoughtful expressions on their faces.

“If you are real then what are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be in America right now?” Hanamaki asked, making many curious pairs of eyes look at Iwaizumi, waiting for an explanation to the boy’s sudden appearance to the gymnasium.

Iwaizumi sighed and opened a zipper of his satchel, taking out something quite big wrapped in a white paper.

“I forgot something important.”

While saying those words Iwaizumi looked straight at Oikawa, who hadn’t moved an inch from his spot. However, hearing Iwaizumi’s words, Oikawa blinked and he felt his body growing tense while feeling nervous all of a sudden. What would have been so important for Iwaizumi to come back to Japan, to Tokyo and to their college’s gymnasium for that matter?

Iwaizumi slowly and carefully opened up the tapes of the white wrapping, revealing the context inside: ten separate flowers.

Everyone stared at the flowers until there was small sniff coming from somewhere near Oikawa, making everyone looking at his left, Oikawa himself included.

“...Why do you look like you’re about to cry, Bokuto?” Kuroo asked from his best friend, quirking up his eyebrow.

Bokuto sniffled again, walking up to Iwaizumi and patting him on the shoulder couple of times, making the latter fight back a groan from how hard Bokuto patted him on the shoulder.

“You have some interesting choices there, mate. Good job!” Bokuto announced smiling, giving Iwaizumi a thumbs up.

Iwaizumi stared at Bokuto for a while before the realisation hit him. 

“You understand the language of flowers, Bokuto-kun?” He asked, feeling slightly surprised since who would have thought that someone as energetic as Bokuto Kōtarō would know about the language of flowers.

“Well, yeah. My mother owns a flower shop and I’ve been helping her out here and there since I was a little kid.”

“Then… Could you help me?”

Bokuto blinked, cocking his head to the side, seeming to be unable to understand what Iwaizumi was trying to ask him. After a couple of moments of thinking, Bokuto’s golden eyes went comically wide and he looked at Iwaizumi like he had grown three heads.

“You mean to tell me that you don’t know what each of these flowers meaning is?”

Iwaizumi averted the other ones intense glare, looking sheepish.

“I just… Explained the things to the florist and she picked up these flowers,” Iwaizumi admitted, a bit worried. How does he know in which order should he gave those to the one they’re meant to be given?

Like sensing his thoughts, Bokuto patted him on the back -less hardly this time- and gave him a reassuring smile.

“Don’t worry, just give them in the order you feel is right. Trust the flowers to guide you.”

Iwaizumi looked at the flowers in his hands for a while, before nodding and turning his green eyes to look at Oikawa, who squirmed a little under his gaze, making Iwaizumi nervous.

“Oikawa, would you come here, please?” Iwaizumi asked and the gentle voice made Oikawa’s heart skip a beat. When was the last time he had heard Iwaizumi talking to him with that voice?

Oikawa hesitated but when he felt a light push on his back, he turned to look at Akaashi, who gave him a firm nod with a small smile on the younger setter lips. Oikawa took a shuddering breath before slowly walking up to Iwaizumi while nervously playing with the hem of his T-shirt.

When the two of them were finally close enough the others in the gym backed away, minus Bokuto, to give them some needed space.  

Looking at each other for a while, Iwaizumi was the first one to break the eye contact, looking down at the flowers once again, deep in thought. Finally he reached out his hand and took the first flower out of inside the white paper, handing it to Oikawa.

“Purple hyacinth means ‘I’m sorry’ and ‘Please forgive me’,” Bokuto explained when Oikawa took the flower from Iwaizumi, feeling his heart racing a bit faster than before.

Determination in his eyes Iwaizumi took another flower.

“General chrysanthemum means ‘You’re a wonderful friend’.”

Oikawa felt the corner of his lips tilt upwards a little and he took the chrysanthemum from Iwaizumi, admiring it for a while before receiving the third one out of the ten flowers that were inside the white wrapping.

“Iris could mean many things but in this case I think it’s meant to say ‘Your friendship means so much to me’.”

When Iwaizumi took the fourth flower, both Oikawa and him noticed how Bokuto started smiling.

“Yellow tulip means ‘There’s sunshine in your smile’.”

Oikawa felt how his cheeks became warmer but he took the tulip with a smile on his face which made Iwaizumi smile as well, giving Oikawa another tulip. This time the tulip had two colors, purple and white.

“Variegated tulip means ‘Beautiful eyes’.”

At this point Oikawa’s heart was pounding really fast and there were slight flush at the tips of Iwaizumi’s ears but the shorter male smiled his friendly and warm smile, making Oikawa feel all giddy inside out.

Next was a another yellow flower which both them had seen before.

“Daffodil has various meanings as well, but this time the message is clear and strong, meaning ‘You’re the only one’ and ‘The sun is always shining when I’m with you’.”

Feeling his eyes tearing up Oikawa took the daffodil, putting it to his left hand with the other flowers, following with his eyes when Iwaizumi took a red flower in his hand.

“Red camellia means ‘You’re a flame in my heart.”

Oikawa’s cheeks gained more red color when hearing the red camellia’s meaning and he gladly received the flower handed to him.

The eight flower was rose but for Oikawa it might have been his favorite so far. Be it just a feeling or the color of the rose, which was turquoise, the same color as his previous volleyball uniform’s color.    

“Ah, here we truly have a beautiful colored rose but that’s not all of it. A rose without any thorns means ‘Love at first sight’,” Bokuto explained smiling.

When taking the turquoise rose, Oikawa knew he was crying and before handing him the second last flower, Iwaizumi wiped the tears away from his cheeks with his hoodies sleeve while smiling lovingly to Oikawa.

“Forget-me-not is a flower with meanings of ‘Memories’ and ‘True love’.”

After giving the small blue flower to smiling and crying Oikawa, Iwaizumi was about to take the last flower but then Bokuto leaned forward, whispering words to his ear so Oikawa wouldn’t hear anything. Learning the meaning of the last flower, red tulip, from Bokuto, Iwaizumi’s cheeks gained a light red color but what caught Oikawa’s attention was Iwaizumi’s smile. The green eyed man’s smile radiated from so many strong emotions that Oikawa felt himself melting.

Iwaizumi took the red tulip, giving Bokuto the now empty white paper wrap and the latter walked to the side where the others were watching the scene with smile on their lips, some of them crying a little.

Taking Oikawa’s free hand in his own, Iwaizumi let his gaze wander over Oikawa before stopping to look at him directly in the eyes. Green eyes met the chocolate brown ones and after a short silence, Iwaizumi finally spoke, looking Oikawa with so much love that the already crying setter just started crying even more.

“Red tulip,” Iwaizumi started, the hand holding the flower rising up before he gently tugged the flower behind Oikawa’s right ear, “means ‘Believe me’ and ‘Declaration of love’.”

Looking at Oikawa’s eyes, Iwaizumi stood with his tiptoes a little and placed his forehead against Oikawa’s.

“How about it? Will you be my boyfriend, Tōru?”

Oikawa cried. Not sad tears, no, the tears falling down his cheeks were because of happiness. He felt so overwhelmed from the emotions that Oikawa couldn’t do anything else but nod. That was the only response that Iwaizumi needed before gently touching Oikawa’s lips with his own. All the emotions Iwaizumi felt he poured into the kiss: happiness, sadness, love, guilt, relief, pain and many more emotions but Oikawa understood them perfectly. Iwaizumi wasn’t leaving anymore. He would be here, with him, from the rest of his life and long after that as well.

“I love you, Hajime.”

“I love you too, Tōru.”

 

**EXTRA SCENE**

 

The people around the gym started clapping their hands together, cheering and some wolf whistling. Oikawa and Iwaizumi parted away from each other so that they could look at everyone in the gym, happiness and love clearly written on their faces. Iwaizumi cleaned Oikawa’s face with his sleeve and then placed a kiss on his forehead, making the setter giggle.

“Wow… I didn’t know Iwaizumi-san was such a romantic person.”

Everyone fell silent, then they started searching for the source of the unexpected voice which did not belong to anyone inside the gym. Finally Iwaizumi and Oikawa’s gazes found grinning Matsukawa and Hanamaki, both holding out their smartphones and there, on the screens, were some familiar faces greeting them. 

“Don’t tell me you two skyped this entire thing to them?” Iwaizumi asked, making Matsukawa and Hanamaki look anywhere else but him while both of them started to whistle, which didn’t make them less quilty.

“I’m glad that they did, though. Watching how you two to pined over each other for two years was tiring. At least it’s over now and we can have our inner peace,” Yahaba said while others nodded their heads at the same time.

“That’s mean, Yahaba-chan!” Oikawa declared, acting hurt and clinging onto Iwaizumi who wrapped his arm around his boyfriend’s waist.

“Talk about for yourselves. At least you didn’t have to watch  _ six people  _ pining over each other,” Iwaizumi commented, which earned various expressions from their friends from mock-hurt to blushing cheeks.

“Moving on, I’m glad that you’re back, Iwaizumi-san,” Watari, oh, the ever sweet Watari said, making everyone agree with him.

Iwaizumi smiled and looked at Oikawa who smiled right back at him.

The happy atmosphere was soon shattered when two horrified yelps were heard. Everyone turned to look at the source of the voices, only to discover the meme pair on the floor, defeated and pained looks on their faces.

“Hey, Matsukawa,” Hanamaki said in the pained voice.

“Yes, Hanamaki?”

“I’m glad that Iwaizumi is back but do you know what that means?”

There was a quiet pause before those two were clinging onto each other, crying crocodile tears, looking utterly defeated.

“There’s no way I can defeat Iwaizumi in arm wrestling! All I’ve been doing was eating profiteroles and dating my bed after work!”

“Cheese-filled hamburger steak… I won’t be having the recipe for the best and the most delicious American cheese-filled hamburger steak… I feel betrayed, Iwaizumi-kun!”

While those two meme-loving dorks were crying on the floor, laughter started bubbling out of Oikawa’s and Iwaizumi’s mouth and it didn’t take long for everyone else to start laughing as well. Iwaizumi looked the scene in front of him, making him think only one thing.

_ “I’m so happy to be back home.” _

**Author's Note:**

> This was my first fanfic ever to celebrate IwaOi Week and also my first fanfic that I wrote in english which is not my native language.   
> I hope you all enjoyed reading this fic! Feedback and comments are appreciated :)  
> Also a huge thank you for my dear friend, Change_of_Feeling_Alive, for being my beta!


End file.
